Gaylord Middle School

Gaylord Middle School in Gaylord, MI, serves 435 students in grades 7 and 8 as part of the Gaylord Community Schools district, and it has consistently earned a 4-star rating from SchoolDigger over the past decade, ranking in the 78th percentile statewide for the 2025-2026 school year.

For parents, the headline is that this school performs solidly above state averages in core subjects. In the most recent testing year, 7th graders scored 11 points higher than the state average in English Language Arts (49.5% proficient vs. 38.4%) and about 11 points higher in Math (43.9% vs. 33.3%). The school also shows a notable strength in college readiness: 72% of 8th graders met the PSAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing benchmark, which is 7 points above the state average. When compared to its district feeder, Gaylord Intermediate School (serving grades 4-6), the middle school appears to at least maintain—if not slightly build upon—the academic levels students achieved in earlier grades. One area of concern is 8th-grade Social Studies, where proficiency (48.8%) dipped just below the state average (50.3%), a reversal from the prior year’s strong performance.

However, the school’s overall numbers mask significant challenges. Performance with Special Education students has dropped dramatically, from the 51st percentile statewide in 2017-2018 to the 6th percentile in 2025-2026—a severe decline that warrants attention. Support for low-income students is also inconsistent, swinging from the 90th percentile one year to the 65th the next, suggesting outcomes depend heavily on the specific cohort. Chronic absenteeism remains a persistent issue at 28.1%, though it is notably better than the 19.3% rate at Gaylord Intermediate. With a rising student-teacher ratio (now 19.5) and stable per-pupil spending around $13,000-$14,000, the school’s biggest opportunities lie in stabilizing support for its most vulnerable subgroups and tackling attendance to ensure success for all students.